Changing careers... sort of

I'v recently been interviewing with other organizations for a new job, I felt I was ready for change. I was offered a position as a Senior Financial Systems Analyst working with Oracle financial databases. I initially didn't think I had what it took, so I wasn't going to apply, but I said the hell with it, applying won't hurt. I come from a networking, troubleshooting environment, I have absolutely no experience with Oracle. I was told that they picked me because they especially liked that I had an accounting background. I'll be working with Oracle Financials and implementing financial databases, etc. I'm really excited about this "career change" and being in a different area of I.T. (databases). Does anyone have experience working with Oracle Financials or experience working as a Financial/Accounting Systems Analyst. I just want an idea of what I'm in for.

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Comments

TLeTourneau

Congratulations! I don't really have any experience in those areas but enjoy the change.

Russell77

Congrats on the new job. My wife has worked for and with companies that have developed software systems for country clubs and law firms. No where near the scale of Oracle but the concepts are the same. A lot will depend on what type of business you are in and what the needs of that business are. For the most part you have to find a way to use the software package to automate as much as you can. From the IT side it is pretty basic depending on the business. Upgrades, patches, calling for support. On the programming side it can get deep as companies want various reports out of the system. It's a detail oriented job but can be a can be a great career path with solid job security.

New2ITinCali

Thanks TLeTourneau!!

New2ITinCali

Thank you Russell77. It's for an insurance company. I'm excited, but a little scared as well because I have no experience in the field. I did take one Oracle SQL course in college and it was hard for me to say the least. But what I discovered is that my job will consist of research, documentation and technical/business requirements. Basically ensuring that the financial applications are working up to the standards and specifications of the finance staff. Thanks for your insight, I appreciate it.

DatabaseHead

I'm familiar with the product.

My background, I work for a monolith fortune 20 company with 3 lines of business. I work for the smallest of the 3 however, I provide the mothership with lots and lots of data for their ERP and it so happens to be the Oracle product you mentioned.

These folks are essentially techno functional for the Oracle COTS. The accounting knowledge is key to understand how the business utilizes the software. How will that data be captured? What happens if the company has a Merger or Aquisition or Divest? How will the system handle that business activity, will you need new tables, will the application have to be altered for the business to account for this? Probably.

IMO You'll capture requirements, test changes, QA the database (Another form of testing), test some more, test again and regression test. Heck the users will probably be too busy or annoyed to test so you'll most likely end up performing UAT as well.

I wouldn't sweat it you'll be fine. You can make a career out of this. My only concern is your interest level, sounds more like a pay check than anything else.

The part about you implementing financial databases, you'll probably be on an implementation team but no way in hell would they let a green bean (no offense) make the cut over....

New2ITinCali

Thanks for your insight, DatabaseHead! Actually I'll be coming in at my same rate of pay, no pay increase at all! They initially offered me lower pay, about a $1,000 less per month than what I'm making now as a Network Analyst. I told them I wouldn't take it. So they agreed to give me what I'm currently making, so that bumped me into the senior role. I sought out change, because I really do enjoy change and learning new things. If I can't expand/increase my duties in my current role, I prefer to move on. I felt I wasn't able to learn more or increase my duties in my previous role, so thats why I sought out something new. I've been confused as to where I would like my career to go, but I've recently decided to just go with the flow and if I get a job, I get it, if I don't, I don't. I just want to enjoy what I do and not get bored.

DatabaseHead

I think you are in good shape, most certainly worst jobs out there.

4 years ago I was a service manager managing help desk / desktop and eventually went on a limb took at 3 month contract and never look back. Do it man do it!

I'm looking at jobs right now, it's been 2.5 years, time to start looking!

New2ITinCali

DatabaseHead, thats quite the same as me. I was with my previous company for 2.5 years and began looking when i realized there weren't any opportunities for upward mobility. I'm curious did you have any accounting or finance background prior to working with Oracle Financials? Also does your job entail any type of business intelligence work?..

DatabaseHead

I have an MBA but no role that required me to use finance or accounting on a regular basis. I do work with finance and accounting, since I am in supply chain. I look at inventory levels, sales and provide volume forecasting for our buyers and manufactures we partner with.

I do a lot of BI type work, mainly around time series forecasting.